Lee Bowyer on Charlton’s “six-pointer” with Doncaster Rovers – and why he never expected Luton Town’s promotion charge to derail

Lee Bowyer has described Saturday’s match at Doncaster Rovers as a “six-pointer” – and admits their midweek reverse was a boost for Charlton Athletic.

The Yorkshire outfit suffered a 2-0 defeat at Shrewsbury Town on Tuesday.

It means Rovers – sixth in the League One standings – only have one game in hand of their weekend opponents and are five points behind.

Charlton already have the cushion of a seven-point lead over seventh-placed Peterborough United.

Bowyer – who will not contest his FA charge for abusive language to the referee in Saturday’s 2-1 win over AFC Wimbledon – said: “The result in the week helped us a bit, we’ve got that gap.

“But this is a big one. In a way you can say it is a six-pointer – because if we win it puts a bigger gap between us.

“It’s a big one, this one and Portsmouth next week. They are very big.”

Second-placed Barnsley are eight points ahead of Charlton.

“For the top two, it is up for them to throw it away,” said Bowyer. “Don’t get me wrong, we could go from now until the end of the season unbeaten. I believe that, I believe in the lads and what they are capable of – but so could Barnsley and Luton.

“If they drop points then I want us to be in and around it, so we can maybe capitalise.”

Luton have powered on despite the mid-season exit of manager Nathan Jones to Stoke City.

And Bowyer never expected that to derail their promotion charge.

“No, because they had the way they played and they all knew their jobs,” he said. “The manager has gone in there and it’s a case of it if ain’t broke, don’t fix it.

“They added in January by signing George Moncur and Jason Cummings, so they added well – but they also spent money. Their squad is very strong.”